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The World Cup experience is more than just the game of soccer. It's an event. And it will fly by faster than you think. It will end and you'll be saying, 'Wow, it's over already?' You have to remember to take it all in and enjoy it.

I wasn't as fit as I would of liked to have been, going to the World Cup, but I'm not sure what difference that made.

There are pitfalls in World Cups, there are players who can win penalties and players who get the slightest touch and go down holding their face or whatever and get someone sent off. There are all these little things and you're hoping that you're not on the wrong end of it.

In the World Cup, much depends for every team on how it develops during the tournament. There are always rising tensions. They come from within, and they come from the media.

One of the things I enjoy most during the World Cup is watching a team improve, mature, and gel during the course of the tournament.

I've never been to the Olympics, so I don't know what to expect. It's better for me, just like my first Worlds... My third Worlds, I knew what it was like, so I was like, 'Oh my goodness. But this is my first Olympics, and not knowing what to expect is good for me.

Brazil go into every World Cup expecting to win - so when it is in Brazil, it is expected even more. You can't understand what the World Cup means to our country. Not just the fans and players, but everybody in Brazil lets us know that they expect it. Our president, people in politics, all tell us to come back with the World Cup.

When I watched the Premier League on the telly, I didn't expect it to be that hard. The opponents are all physically strong, real athletes. It wasn't like that in Germany. You must be prepared for it. But I prepared myself for it.

The World Cup is a very important way to measure the good players, and the great ones. It is a test of a great player.

Coming back after the layoff, I wasn't really sure what to expect.